Healthy Lifestyle Habits May Be Associated With Reduced Risk Of Chronic Disease

“Four healthy lifestyle factors-never smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly and following a healthy diet-together appear to be associated with as much as an 80 percent reduction in the risk of developing the most common and deadly chronic diseases, according to a report in the August 10/24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes-chronic diseases that together account for most deaths-are largely preventable, according to background information in the article. ‘An impressive body of research has implicated modifiable lifestyle factors such as smoking, physical activity, diet and body weight in the causes of these diseases,’ the authors write. The largest reduction in risk was associated with having a BMI lower than 30, followed by never smoking, at least 3.5 hours of physical activity and then adhering to good dietary principles. ‘Our results reinforce current public health recommendations to avoid smoking, to maintain a healthy weight, to engage in physical activity appropriately and to eat adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables and foods containing whole grains and to partake of red meat prudently,’ the authors write. ‘Because the roots of these factors often originate during the formative stages of life, it is especially important to start early in teaching the important lessons concerning healthy living.’”

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